I was on sabbatical from this forum because of a more urgent sabbatical. It took the several "interesting narratives" to unearth me from hibernation. The most 'interesting' is of course Panjak Mishra's emasculation of Niall Ferguson. I have gone to read the full exegesis of Mishra's critique in the London Review of Books, and the letter exchanges between both accuser and accused (to revert to Mr. Opara's new beloved legal awakening vis-vis Chris Abani). Mishra proves his points with trenchant analyses of Ferguson's oeuvre, which he sustained in the subsequent letter exchanges. The letters reveal Ferguson as a sophist's sophist, defending the indefensible. 'If you find yourself in quicksand, stop struggling' goes the saying. The quicksand of Mishra's prose is also hot. Ferguson cant help but wriggle and wiggle. He is now waist deep in it. It will be interesting to see how this man who belongs amongst 19th century eugenists escape from the hot saliva of Mishra, who came out like the vengeful hindu goddess, Shiva. I think we should heed Mishra and "watch this man" (Ferguson).
Amatoritsero
-- On 27 November 2011 22:45, Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
--"There is a long tradition of racists marrying people of color for alibi against charges of racism and xenophobia. The anti-immigrant alarmist Lou Dobbs is married to a hispanic woman that he regularly mentions to deflect charges of xenophobia and racism. One rabid anti-immigrant vigilante profiled on CNN had an Asian immigrant wife that he kept visible as a foil against charges of anti-white xenophobia."
mo
Marrying from a group that one hates, and/or having a few "acquaintances" from a group that one dislikes is one of the oldest tricks in the book for haters.
Nigeria's former Ambassador in Washington expressed ethnic hate sentiments in official correspondence with his Boss. He was accused of being an ethnic hater. The former Ambassador's defense was that he could not be because he was married, to a woman from the ethnic group that he expressly and formally denigrated with a triumphalist accent. How opportunist can one be? How stupid can one be?
While there may sometimes be a power and opportunism imperative and resonance in inter-racial/inter-ethnic marriages, it seems to be the case that physical attraction to the opposite is at times stronger that racist emotions in some haters. The number of mixed race people in racist societies is very eloquent evidence.
The defense recourse of many of many white racist is that some of their closest friend is not white.
oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Moses Ochonu [meochonu@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 5:04 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Niall Ferguson threatens to sue over accusation of racism
The thing with Ferguson is that he is a repeat offender and so he has a long rap sheet of provocative racist and supremacist comments and polemical scholarship. Mirsha simply reviewed his accumulated record of diminishing the humanity of colored peoples and constructing a grand narrative of Western superiority and manifest imperial destiny. Seems to me that provocative and in-your-face racists are the loudest in proclaiming their innocence. Ferguson seems to believe that he can say dehumanizing things about colored people, justify their conquest by the West, and sing paeans to white imperial humanitarianism while dismissing the atrocities of empire. As long as he throws in a few lines half-heatedly acknowledging one or two "ugly methods," viola, he cannot be accused of racism! The real surprise here is that it took so long for him to be called out in a reputable intellectual medium like the LRB. His denials are hilarious. I mean, this guy's racism is not the paternal racism of white liberals. It's a full blown "my race and civilization are superior to yours and we helped civilized you barbarians and should be allowed back to complete the job" kind of racism. The guy is incorrigible. And his arrogance is nauseating. As for his marriage to Ayan, why is that a surprise? There is a long tradition of racists marrying people of color for alibi against charges of racism and xenophobia. The anti-immigrant alarmist Lou Dobbs is married to a hispanic woman that he regularly mentions to deflect charges of xenophobia and racism. One rabid anti-immigrant vigilante profiled on CNN had an Asian immigrant wife that he kept visible as a foil against charges of anti-white xenophobia. I stayed up past my bedtime last night reading the review. I am glad I did.
Sent from my iPad----Thanks for this Hetty ter Haar. I didn't even realize that Ferguson's racism was still in the region of "debatable". I thought it was a given. To make matters worse, we now hear that he is married to Ayaan Hirsi Ali who isn't far from the neighnourhood of Theo van Gogh and Pim Fortuyn. Na wa oh. Someone who writes big books about the benefits of the British and the American Empires to the wretched of the earth goes off and marries a lady who makes a buck or two painting the whole of African manhood, especially Islamic manhood, in pre-cannibalistic brush strokes. That marriage is what in Nigeria we call question jam answer or double wahala for deadi body. (apologies to Fela)
Pius
From: Hetty ter Haar <oldavenue@gmail.com>
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, 26 November 2011, 18:25
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Niall Ferguson threatens to sue over accusation of racism
Niall Ferguson threatens to sue over accusation of racism
Historian claims writer Pankaj Mishra accused him of racism and must
apologise or face court action
Peter Beaumont
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 26 November 2011 21.25 GMT
It has been an intellectual spat of some savagery, so far largely
confined to the refined pages of one of Britain's most respected
literary magazines.
This weekend, however, it seems ever more likely that a court will
have to adjudicate between the historian Niall Ferguson and writer
Pankaj Mishra over Ferguson's claim that he had been accused of being
a "racist".
Indeed, not since VS Naipaul and Paul Theroux fell out has there been
a spat like this in the letters pages of a literary journal. A new
exchange of correspondence in the current London Review of Books,
triggered by Mishra's review of the Harvard professor's latest book
Civilization, which Ferguson claims was "defamatory", is evidence that
the row is becoming more intense.
In his letter Ferguson charges Mishra of being "in full and
ignominious retreat", condemning both Mishra and the LRB for refusing
to apologise.
At the heart of the controversy is Mishra's interpretation of not only
Ferguson's latest book but also his body of work in general, which has
sought to challenge the view that western empires were entirely
negative in their impact, and argues that colonialism could have
positive effects as well.
Ferguson is best known for his popular television histories, including
Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World and The Ascent of Money.
"As my last letter explained, [Mishra] made a vile allegation of
racism against me," says Ferguson in his latest letter to LRB. "In his
response he nowhere denies that this was his allegation; nor does he
deny that he intended to make it.
"He now acknowledges that I am no racist. Any decent person would make
an unconditional apology and stop there. But Mishra proves incapable
of doing the right thing. His mealy-mouthed acknowledgment is
qualified by the offensive suggestion that I lack 'the steady
convictions of racialist ideologues', to whom his original review so
outrageously compared me.
"Mishra's slippery spin on his original words is that he meant to
accuse me only of a 'wider pathology' of 'bow[ing] down before the
conqueror of the moment, to accept the existing trend as
irreversible'. Unfortunately for his reputation, this new smear is
also demonstrably false."
For his part, Mishra replies: "[Ferguson] seeks to mitigate the crimes
of his beloved western empires – what he calls 'ugly methods of
expropriation and enslavement' – by also implicating 'non-western'
empires in them...
"It says something about the political culture of our age that
Ferguson has got away with this disgraced world view for as long as he
has. Certainly, it now needs to be scrutinised in places other than
the letters page of the LRB."
At the heart of the row is Ferguson's anger at being placed in an
unflattering proximity by Mishra to American racial theorist Theodore
Lothrop Stoddard, author of The Rising Tide of Color against White
World-Supremacy.
Mishra, an Indian author and essayist, who has written for the
Guardian, went on to accuse Ferguson of being a "homo atlanticus
redux", a "retailer of emollient tales about the glorious past" whose
books "are known less for their original scholarly contribution than
for containing some provocative counterfactuals".
Contacted by email, Mishra declined to be interviewed and said that he
wanted to "confine" his response to Ferguson to the letters pages of
the LRB.
Ferguson, who is married to the Somali-Dutch writer, activist and
politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, insisted yesterday that he would secure an
apology or take the matter to court. "If he won't apologise for
calling me a racist, I will persecute him until he does," Ferguson
said, adding that he had been made even more angry by the fact that he
had been attacked in a serious and scholarly publication such as the
LRB.
"The basic insinuation [I am making] is that Mishra either did not
read my book properly or if he did he was reckless. I find it
staggering that the LRB is standing by him. I spoke to the editor Mary-
Kay Wilmers and said: 'Don't force my hand by forcing me to put it in
the hands of lawyers.' All I have got back is weasel words.
"There was a time when one expected better from the literary world, to
play the ball not the man. But it seems to be becoming de rigueur for
mediocrities to build their fame on attacking those more successful
than them."
The LRB declined to comment.
© 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
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